South Africa

Agricultural Marketing
Information System

South Africa
Agriculture contributes 4.5% to GDP
Dual Economy:
o Small-scale communal farming
o Large-scale commercial farming

Market-oriented economy
o More imports from subsidized countries

Effect: smaller farmers lost jobs

commercial farms succeeded

South Africa
Problem:producers disconnected from
global market
Solution:provide a system enabling producers to
best satisfy customer demands by
providing adequate market information
South Africa Web based MIS
Ghana Esoko (SMS)

1. Briefly discuss an agricultural marketing

information system
Marketing Information System (MIS)
o Gathering of needed information
o Processing needed information
o Help decision makers use the information to generate market insights

Agricultural Marketing Information

o
o
o
o

Begins and ends with information

Obtain information from farmers
what is demanded and what can be provided
A system in which data can be accessed

2. How might the South African system be

seen as an effort at increasing market
accessibility and competitive advantage?
Increasing Market Accessibility

Market Accessibility
Dynamic maps illustrate the location of the markets
Provide contact information of the markets
The system
connection)

is

web-based(Areas

with

Internet

2. How might the South African system be

seen as an effort at increasing market
accessibility and competitive advantage?
Increasing Competitive Advantage
o Provide the same value as its competitors but at a lower price
o Charge higher prices through differentiation

Competitive Advantage
Producers are aware of the real-time pricing for fresh
produce
System provided information on how produce is graded
Forecast reports on different sectors of agriculture

3. Assess the suitability of Esoko system for

Africa.
What is Esoko?
o Developed in Ghana
o SMS based
o Prices, farming advice
o Offers, harvest data, stock levels

HIGHLY SUITABLE
Simple
Mobile phones instead of computers
Up to date information

4.Should Africa have developed a system

like Esoko rather than opting fro a webbased solution?
ESOKO SYSTEM
o
o
o
o

SMS
Easy Steps
Push and pull of data
negotiation

WEB-BASED SOLUTION
o
o
o
o

Internet connection
Service fees
Updated/outdated data
links

 Accessibility- mobile phone, web

Efficiency- easy steps
Premium to the welfare of stakeholders
(producers, traders, Africa) serves right,
profitability

 South Africa should have developed a system like

ESOKO rather than opting for a Web-based
solution